kombucha

I started making kombucha at the end of last summer.  I had done some reading about it and was intrigued, so I got a SCOBY from a friend, bought a big jar, and brewed my very first batch. At this point, I hadn't actually ever tasted kombucha!  I love tea, though, and I love sour/fizzy things, so I figured that we were going to get a long great.  

Fast forward about 10-11 months, and I must say that kombucha has not only become a favorite beverage in our house, but it has also become something that we have come to rely on for our health.  We love the taste--it's refreshing and delicious--and we love how we feel after we drink it!  If we are feeling at all under-the-weather, a bit of kombucha helps to reset and refresh our systems by adding good bacteria back into our systems and helping to balance our guts!  It's quite a beautiful and fascinating thing!  (For more on the benefits of eating/drinking fermented foods, see my post here.)

Kombucha is a fermented tea made with the help of a SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony Of Bacteria and Yeast).  The SCOBY (sometimes called "the mother") is the strangest part of making kombucha.  It's a kind of jelly-rubbery-like thing that you put into your jar of freshly brewed sweetened tea, and the SCOBY is what ferments the tea and turns it into kombucha.  If you can get past the strangeness of the SCOBY, then making kombucha is simple and easy!  Most of the work is done for you while you wait for the SCOBY to ferment it!  

Here are the basics, if you'd like to start brewing your own kombucha!

Kombucha

a SCOBY  (get this from a friend or order it online)

6-8 plain black tea bags (some people use other types of tea, I've only used black)

1 cup of sugar

3 1/2 quarts of water

2 cups of raw kombucha (You can get this from a friend or the store for your first batch.  After your first batch you can use your own kombucha for this.)

fruit, herbs, ginger, honey, etc. for infusing/flavoring

a 1 gallon glass jar (Ball makes a decorative gallon jar that works great for this.  However, you may be able to get a jar from a restaurant or deli. Most pickles, olives, etc. come in large glass jars.)

smaller jars for flavoring the kombucha (I use 1 half-gallon and 1 quart jar)

paper towels or cloth pieces to cover the jars

rubber bands or string to secure the paper towel/cloth to the jars

bottles for storing the finished kombucha (you can get glass bottles at beer brewing supply stores, and they work great!)

STEP #1:  Brew your tea by boiling the water on a large pot on the stove.  Once the water boils, turn off the heat and stir in the sugar to dissolve.  Add the tea bags and then let it sit with a lid on until it has cooled to room temperature.  I usually start this part of the process in the morning or before bed.  Then I come back to it 6-8 hours later and finish the job.  

Make sure your gallon jar is very clean (you may want to run it through the dishwasher on the sanitize setting or even boil it for 10 minutes to sanitize it).  Pour the 2 cups of starter kombucha into the jar and then add the freshly-brewed room temperature sweetened tea.  Using very clean hands, gently side the SCOBY into the tea.  Cover the jar with a paper towel or a piece of cloth and secure it with a rubber band or string.  Place the jar somewhere out of direct light (mine gets a bit of direct light in the summer, but I don't worry too much about it) and let it sit for 7-10 days.  I write the brew date on my jar with a crayon, so that I don't forget it.  You may want to start tasting it after 7 days to see when it has reached the flavor that you are looking for.  It will get more sour and vinegar-like as it ferments.   (NOTE: I currently make a two-gallon batches, so my pictures include double of everything.)

STEP #2:  When the kombucha is ready (it should have a bit of fizz at this point), brew a new batch of tea.  Once your new batch of tea has reached room temperature, gently lift the SCOBY out of the finished kombucha with clean hands and place it onto a clean plate.  Pour 2 cups of the finished kombucha into a measuring cup or bowl and set it aside to be used for your next batch.  With the remaining kombucha, you can do one of two things.  You can bottle it as "plain kombucha" or you can put it into smaller jars with fruit, herbs, ginger, honey, etc. and let it infuse and take on those flavors.  I typically fill two bottles and then pour the rest into a couple jars to infuse it.  Some of our favorite flavors are strawberry/rhubarb, mixed berry ginger, and honey ginger.  I usually fill the bottom inch or so of the jar with my ingredients and then fill the rest of the jar with the rest of the kombucha.  Cover the jars and let them sit for 1-3 days.  The longer they sit, the stronger the flavors will be.  

At this point, you should clean your gallon jar and pour in the 2 cups of reserved kombucha along with the fresh tea.  Then check your SCOBY for any bad spots.  Your SCOBY will grow a new layer with each batch of kombucha.  It may get darker in spots as well.  This is all normal.  However, if your SCOBY has any black spots on it, this is most likely mold and the SCOBY should be discarded and not used again.  If you SCOBY looks good, then gently slide it into your new batch of tea, cover the tea, label it with the date, and let it ferment.  (NOTE: As your SCOBY grows, you can peel off the old layers and compost them.  You can also give a few layers to a friend for their brewing delight!)

STEP #3:  When your infusions are ready (1-3 days after you started them), strain out the ingredients and then bottle the kombucha.  Once your kombucha has been bottled, you should let it sit outside of the refrigerator for 1-3 days.  Because the bottles are sealed, the kombucha will continue to ferment a bit and it will become more effervescent.  

STEP #4:  ​Your kombucha is ready to drink!!  You can put it in the fridge or drink it right away.  I've read that kombucha can  last up to a month, ours has always been consumed before that, so I haven't experimented with the shelf life.  

There you have it!  It may seem a bit complicated after that long explanation, but it's really not.  The basic steps are:

  1. Brew a fresh batch of tea, combine it with the starter tea and SCOBY and let it sit for 7-10 days
  2. Pour into smaller jars with yummy things and let it infuse for 1-3 days.  Also, start a new batch at this point.
  3. Strain out the yummy things, and pour the finished kombucha into bottles.  Let it sit and carbonate for 1-3 days. 
  4. Refrigerate and consume!!

When I was first starting the process, I found the pictures, instructions, and troubleshooting notes on The Kitchn's website to be super helpful!  Also, if you have questions about the health of your SCOBY, do a google image search.  You can see a lot of crazy SCOBY's out there and I have found the pictures to be helpful.  

Lastly, experiment with it!  Try new flavors, try different fermenting times, take note of the temperature in your kitchen and watch how that impacts the fermentation process.  Enjoy the journey and the product and recognize that there is not a perfect product!!

lentils and tacos...together...

Our journey towards eating mostly grass-fed meats has forced me to get more creative with my dinner planning, as I mentioned in my post on beans.  We love eating grass-fed meats, but they are a bit more expensive and not always as convenient as conventionally-rasied meat.  With all of the venison that we have in our freezer, it's not often that I'm in need or want of beef.  However, I do sometimes find myself missing ground beef.  (We've been planning to grind venison, but don't have a grinder and just haven't gotten around to borrowing one...)  One of the things that I often used to use ground beef for was tacos.  I love making tacos.  I could eat them on a regular basis and probably not get bored.  So, when I found this recipe for Spiced Lentil Tacos, I decided to try it and ended up falling in love!  It's so yummy, so cheap, and so easy!  

I now use that basic recipe in place of taco meat when I'm out of good beef or want to make a cheap meal.  Basically, you cook the lentils kind of like you would taco meat.  Sauté some onions and garlic in oil, add the dry lentils, add the taco seasoning, add some broth and let simmer until lentils are soft, mash them up a bit, and ta-da!! 

Also, on the note of taco seasoning....I haven't bought a packet of store-bought seasoning in years.  I find that it's a lot easier to whip together some tacos if I just use the seasonings I have on hand.  It's also much cheaper and there are no mystery ingredients!  

Taco Seasoning Recipe (approximation would be better word....)

1 tbsp chili powder

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp ground coriander 

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp dried basil

hot spices, if you so desire, such as red pepper flakes, Tabasco, Siracha, jalapeños, chilies, etc.

This recipe is for a one pound batch of taco meat or lentils.  I always cook my meat or lentils with a chopped onion and some garlic to add flavor.  I also never really measure the proportions listed above, I just kind of guess.  Make it your own, experiment with the mixture.  Have fun with it! 

laundry soap

Not the most exciting title, I know, but, hey, it's a very important part of life!  Making your own laundry soap isn't exactly a new idea.  I know a lot of people who do it and there are lots of different recipes and concoctions to try.  However, I also know a lot of people who have maybe never thought about it, or would otherwise never consider it.  So, I thought I'd share with you the recipe I use and my reasons for why I choose to make my own.

Reason #1: It's cheap!  I've never done the calculations, but I do know that I'm not spending $9 every couple months on a jug of heavily scented Tide!  

Reason #2:  It's easy.  Every few months, I take about 15 minutes to make up a batch.  The hardest part is grating a couple bars of soap with a cheese grater.  

Reason #3:  Less waste!  I'm no longer recycling big laundry detergent jugs!  I now have simple cardboard boxes a few times a year that we can either burn or recycle.  It's great!

Reason #4:  I know exactly what's in it!  This is the biggest reason for me.  I've been working for the past year to get the chemicals and harsh cleaners out of my home.  Knowing exactly what is in my laundry soap has become very important to me.  It's easy to read food labels and pretty much know what you're eating, but cleaner labels are not held to the same standards.  I'm not really a fan of bringing things into my home and washing the clothes that touch my skin all day with things that have ingredients such as "cleaning agents" in them.  These may be perfectly harmless, but they also may be perfectly toxic!  I love that making my own laundry soap enables me to know exactly those "cleaning agents" are.  

So, there you have it!  Those are my simple reasons why I choose to take a bit of time every few months to make my own soap.  Since it's just my husband and I for now, I typically make the following recipe in single batches.  However, if I were running the washer more often, I would definitely double or triple the recipe for efficiency purposes.  

Laundry Soap

2 cups grated soap (I make my own, but I used to use a mixture of Fels-Naptha and Ivory.  Fels-Naptha is a hard laundry bar and Ivory is cheap and soft, which makes it easy to grate.  Fels-Naptha can be found in the laundry isle at a lot of the big stores like Target, Walmart, Cub, etc.)

1 cup washing soda (This is an all-natural product--Sodium Carbonate, but is different from baking soda--Sodium Bicarbonate.  You should be able to find it in the laundry isle.  Arm & Hammer is the most common brand.)

1 cup borax (This is an all-natural detergent that can also be found in the laundry isle.  Some have objections as to whether it's safe or not.  This blog post pulls together a lot of what the experts have to say about that.  20 Mule Team is a good brand.)

I grate my soap using a cheese grater.  Since it's soap, and I make my own, I use my cheese grater from the kitchen.  I figure it just makes it cleaner.  Mix all of the ingredients together until the grated soap breaks down a bit and you have a powder-like consistency.  Store in an airtight container.

Use 2 tbs for a full load.  I use white vinegar as a fabric softener.  I pour about a 1/4 cup into my Downy Ball and throw it into the load.  (The fabric softener spot on your washer will also work, but your washer may consistently smell like vinegar).  

I find that the detergent works great!  Whenever I wash whites or really dirty things, I pour a little extra borax in the load and let them soak a bit.  They brighten right up! 

So, whether you decide to make your own or not, I do encourage you to think about what kinds of things are in the cleaning products you're bringing into your home.  It's amazing how many nasty things are allowed to be in the products we buy!

beans, beans, the musical fruit...

We eat a lot of beans in this house.  In soups, in salads, in tacos, on their own.  Partly because they are delicious and come in so many types, but also because they are cheap and a great source of protein!  As we have slowly made the switch to eating better produce (organic/local) and better meat (grass-fed/pasture-raised/free-range), I've tried to find ways to reduce our grocery budget in other ways so that we can afford better quality food overall.  One of those ways has been incorporating more beans into our meals.  I've found that I can buy better meat by buying/eating less meat and preparing more vegetarian meals.  In order to fill our bellies with those meals, they often contain beans.  

Beans in any form are cheap, which is lovely when you're working within a budget.  However, dried beans are by far the most economical way of purchasing beans.  While less convenient than canned, they are better for you because they don't contain BPA, which can't be said of their canned counterparts.  Cheap and healthier?!  Forget the convenience, both of those factors were enough to win me over!

Once I decided to make the switch to dried beans, I explored a few different options for preparing them.  My favorite so far (for convenience and ease) has been the slow-cooker.  It's a pretty slick process!  Rinse them, soak them, add seasonings, turn on the Crockpot, come back a few hours later, and ta-da -- you've got beans!!!  

I've always known that dried beans are cheaper, but this last week I took a few minutes to figure out just how much I saved.  I bought about 2.25 lbs of organic black beans at my co-op for $2.39/lb, which totaled about $5.28.  These dried beans produced about 14 cups of prepared beans.  That's more than 7 cans of store-bought prepared beans.  Without adding in the cost of the onion, garlic, bay leaves, and salt (which would be a very minimal addition), the cost per "can" of my prepared beans would be $0.78.  The average cost of one can of non-organic black beans is about $1.00, and my beans were organic!  The savings to make non-organic dried beans would be even more.  

Dried beans give me a way to get organic beans into our bodies for less money and without BPA!  I personally find these benefits far out way the time it takes to make them!  

Slow-Cooker Dried Beans

2 lbs dried beans*

water

1 large onion, quartered

2 whole garlic cloves

2 bay leaves

1 tbs of salt (you may want to start with 1/2 tbs and go up from there)

Sort and rinse your beans.  This step is important because it's very possible that you will find dirt, rocks, or other debris in your beans.  Pour the rinsed beans into your slow-cooker and cover them with water.  The water should be 1-2 inches above the beans.  Let them soak for about 8 hours (I do this overnight).  The long soak is very important for the nutritional aspect of the beans.  Read more about this here.  

In the morning, add the onion, garlic, and bay leaves.  You may need to add extra water, if the beans have soaked too much of it up.  Your water should still be covering the beans.  Turn the slow-cooker on low and let it do it's thing for about 6 hours.   You may want to stir it once or twice, if you're home.  I find that this helps the beans cook more evenly (totally not necessary, though).  After about 6 hours, start testing the beans for softness.  You should eat 5-10 beans to see if they are all soft enough.  If any are still hard, then you should keep cooking them.  It's better to have a few mushy beans, then a few hard ones (trust me).  Once they are done, add the salt, stir, and let them soak it in for a few minutes.  Taste them again.  If they are to your liking, then turn off the slow-cooker and let them cool.

Take out the onion, garlic, and bay leaves, and put the beans into freezable storage containers.  I typically strain out 2 cups of beans, add some of the liquid back, and put them into quart-sized freezer bags, and lay them flat in the freezer.  Eventually, I'd like to find some glass containers that would work well for that amount of beans without being too bulky for my little freezer.  However, for now, freezer bags it is!  Freezer bags also thaw very quickly in a bowl/sink of water.  This is handy when you need them in a pinch.  

When you're ready to use them, just take them out of the freezer, let them thaw, then drain them like you would a can of beans from the store.  

*You can use any kind of beans (black, kidney, great northern, etc.) for this.  However, the time in the slow-cooker may vary from one type to another.  You may also find variations between brands of beans or even with your slow-cooker.  Play around with it.  Experiment!

How about you?  Do you have any cost-saving tips for getting good food into your family's bellies for less?!